It may seem odd to the outsider observer to describe a 27-year-old as one of the veteran, senior players in the Wasps squad.

But when that same 27-year-old is Christian Wade, a man with 160 appearances in black-and-gold, scoring 98 tries and 492 points in the process, you can soon see why the younger wingers look up to him.

Wade though, who remarkably has been his side's top try scorer every season for the past six years, still insists he has a lot more to give as Dai Young's men go looking for the Premiership trophy.

"I guess I am a bit of a veteran, I've been here for nine years now, it's my seventh or eighth being in the first team so it's gone pretty quick," he said, "I'm still only 27 so I've still got a lot of time.

Wasps' top-try scorers in 17/18

Christian Wade - 12

Josh Bassett - 11

Dan Robson - 9

"When I first came into the team, the reason I was in there was for my finishing ability and my speed, my agility and stuff.

"So it's always been a kind of undertone where obviously I want to finish every opportunity, go looking for the ball, score tries, and I've done that every year.

"I just want to get out there and have some fun. That's been my main thing since 2015, just focusing on my team here, focusing on myself and getting the best out of me, with the help of the coaches .

"Last year we had a lot of injuries, I know it would have been difficult to give me rest time as well as some of the other boys. I'm just looking forward to playing and doing my thing."

Change in approach

Wade and his fellow wingers Josh Bassett , Marcus Watson and Elliot Daly , scored 33 of Wasps' 79 regular season tries last campaign but that has not stopped director of rugby Young boosting his wide options.

Ambrose Curtis has arrived from New Zealand having appeared for his country's Maori's side and for the national Sevens team, and Wade believes the black-and-golds have the quality to scare anyone.

"This is maybe the lightest back three we've had so in terms of speed and agility, that's definitely going to be on show from our back three which is great," he said.

Christian Wade touches down for his second try during the Aviva Premiership match between Wasps and Northampton Saints (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

"But I think we've been blessed with wingers over the years anyway. We've had Frank Halai, Richard Horton and cameos from other people as well so the wings have been a strong point for us over the years.

"The closest thing we had to what we have now while I've been at Wasps would have been when Tom Varndell was here and Richard Horton, we were all kind of similar in terms of our attributes.

"I'm looking forward to us all playing together and doing a madness out on the pitch."

Big brother role

It is not just the first-team where Wasps have strong back three options, with the senior academy now possessing the likes of Callum Sirker and Owain James .

And former RPA players' player of the year Wade, who himself was just 19 when he first appeared for the first time, has taken the young prospects under his wing.

"I see those guys as like my little brothers, speaking to them and stuff, trying to hang out," he added.

"Because rugby's got that stigma, like in a lot of sports but more so in rugby, of the academy coming in, having to earn their place and you've got to treat them badly. But I've never followed that rule.

Callum Sirker scored a consolation for Wasps against Connacht (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

"Maybe that's because I'm not from rugby, I came into it later. So I'm always trying to impart my knowledge of the game or just about being a professional, like how to get the best out of themselves on the pitch.

"And all the boys have been working hard in pre-season and have been trying to work hard to get their faces known and be able to play. I'd expect Callum to get some game-time this year, Owain as well.

"He's another great player who's been here a few years now and every time he's played or played in the A League he's been a star man so we're looking forward to seeing how those guys progress."

Defending criticism

While Wade is highly regarded as one of the best finishers in the game, his work at the other end of the pitch is what some put down to his relatively few international caps. But the man himself believes this is a misguided criticism, partly driven by his small stature.

"It's a bit of a cop-out because of my size," he said, "I'm not necessarily a stats man but if you were to look at the stats then they'd tell you otherwise, compared to what people say.

"If you're not a stats man then you can just watch the game and like you said it's obvious that it's not a weakness.

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"For me, it would be one of the weaker areas in terms of what my strengths are, but everyone has weaknesses, everyone has things they're working on continuously.

"Defence is just one of those things for me that I just try to keep putting extra time in, extra work in the video room as well as working on my strengths as well.

"Everyone has their own opinion but at the end of the day, if I get the job done, that's all I worry about, that's the main thing."

Winning potential

Wade is again set to be crucial to Wasps' attempt to claim a first Premiership title since 2008, and he insists that the current squad has both the ability and the drive to be victorious at Twickenham.

"I think we have had the potential to win the Premiership the last three years, definitely the last two," he said.

"It's just been small things, little things that when they've added up have got to that Final performance, us not having quite enough.

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"We have the potential to do it, it's just making sure that we do it, because we don't want to keep having the same issue of always missing at the last hurdle.

"We just need to go that extra ten per cent or whatever it is, a flick of a mindset or a few more extras in terms of our skills in training so that we can achieve what we want to achieve."